Protection of privacy

Google AdWords and Google conversion tracking

This website uses Google AdWords. AdWords is an online advertising programme from Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States (“Google”).
As part of Google AdWords, we use so-called conversion tracking. When you click an ad delivered by Google, a conversion-tracking cookie is set. Cookies are small text files stored by the internet browser on the user’s computer. These cookies lose their validity after 30 days and are not used for personal identification of the users. Should the user visit certain pages of this website and the cookie has not yet expired, Google and we can tell that the user clicked the ad and was directed to that page.
Each Google AdWords advertiser has a different cookie. Cookies cannot be tracked via the website of an AdWords advertiser. The information collected using the conversion cookie is used to create conversion statistics for the AdWords advertisers who have opted for conversion tracking. The customers get to know the total number of users who clicked on their ad and were directed to the page with a conversion-tracking tag. However, they do not obtain any information allowing to personally identify users. If you do not wish to participate in tracking, you can object to this by simply deactivating the Google conversion-tracking cookie via your internet browser user settings. In doing so, you will not be included in the conversion-tracking statistics.

Further information on Google AdWords and Google conversion-tracking can be found in Google’s privacy policy: https://www.google.de/policies/privacy/

You can set your browser so that you will be informed about the setting of cookies and to allow them individually, to reject cookies for specific cases or generally and you can activate automatic deletion of cookies when closing the browser. Deactivating cookies may restrict the functionality of this website.

2.1.3 Social media

Our website contains links to services such as Facebook, Xing, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. When clicking the link you will be transferred to the page of the specific provider, i.e. only then user information will be transferred to the respective provider. For information on how your data is treated when using the web pages of other providers, please refer to the privacy policy of the respective provider

2.2 Active use of the website

2.2.1 User enquiries

In order for us to be able to process and respond to your enquiries, e.g. via contact form, to our e-mail address or by telephone, we process the personal data you have provided in this context.
With enquiries via contact form, you need to provide your salutation, last name and e-mail address. You may provide your first name, company and telephone number voluntarily.
With enquiries to our e-mail address, we always process your e-mail address in order to reply to you as well as the other information you submit to us in your message.
With enquiries by telephone, we process the personal data you have provided.

The legal basis for the processing of personal data related to user enquiries is Art. 6 Par. 1 f GDPR. Our legitimate interest is the appropriate respond to user enquiries.

2.2.2 Registration on the website

You can register on our website as a client or an interested person to make use of services. You have to provide your first and last name, company, e-mail address, address, telephone number and a password of your choice. The provision of a fax number is optional. Registered users can amend the data provided during registration at any time as required. The mandatory information requested during registration must be complete. Otherwise, we will reject the registration.
We will use the e-mail address provided with the registration to inform you about important changes such as scope of services or modifications for technical reasons.

We process your data for the purposes above for the performance of a contract or to take steps prior to entering into a contract in accordance with Art. 6 Par. 1 b GDPR when you register for the support services provided there.
The data collected during registration is stored by us until you request erasure or the purpose of storage has ceased. Statutory retention periods remain unaffected.

2.2.3 Registration for events and training/webinars

You can log in on our website to participate in events/training/webinars. For events, you have to provide your salutation and last name, e-mail address, telephone number and zip code. The provision of your first name, company, job title and other address details is optional. To register for training/webinars you have to provide the salutation, first and last name, company and address for all participants. For confirmations and queries, you have to provide the first and last name, job title as well as an e-mail address and telephone number. The provision of a fax number is optional. The mandatory information requested during registration must be complete. Otherwise, we will reject the registration. If you register not only yourself but also other persons for events or training/webinars, you must ensure that the appropriate consent to provide their personal data as part of the registration has been obtained from the other persons.

We use the data you have provided for booking and holding the events and training/webinars. In the case of training, we also use the data for the purposes of issuing a certificate of participation in the training for you and sending you a participant’s evaluation form to rate the training.

We process your data for the purposes above for the performance of a contract or to take steps prior to entering into a contract in accordance with Art. 6 Par. 1 b GDPR when you register for an event or training/webinar.
The data collected during registration is stored by us until you request erasure or the purpose of storage has ceased. Statutory retention periods remain unaffected.

2.2.4 Requests for quotes and orders via the website

You can send enquires to submit quotes and place orders via the request and contact forms on our website or by telephone. With enquires and orders related to this via a request or contact form, you have to provide your salutation, last name and e-mail address. You may provide your first name and telephone number or additional data voluntarily. With enquiries by telephone, we process the data you have provided. Where necessary for submitting quotes and for contracts related to your order, we will ask you to provide additional data such as payment details (e.g. credit card number).
We process the data you have provided to generate quotes, to accept and process orders and for the delivery or supply (e.g. via download) of the ordered products to you.

We process the data you have provided in accordance with Art. 6 Par. 1 b GDPR for the performance of contracts or to take steps prior to entering into a contract, in particular for generating quotes, for completing and processing your order, for the provision of customer services and to manage the customer relationship. Failure to provide necessary data may result in not being able to entering into a contract.

2.2.5 Registration and customer account

You can create a customer account for using our online shop. You need to register for this. To do so, you have to provide your e-mail address and a password of your choice. Once successfully registered, you can make purchases via your customer account. Registered users can amend the data provided during registration at any time as required.
We use the so-called double opt-in procedure for registration, i.e. your registration will only be completed after you have confirmed your registration by clicking the link included in the confirmation e-mail that is sent to you for this purpose.

We process your data for the purposes above on the basis of the following legal bases:

• for the performance of a contract or to take steps prior to entering into a contract in accordance with Art. 6 Par. 1 b GDPR, insofar as you use the user account for purchases in our online shop; and

• the purposes of our legitimate interests in accordance with Art. 6 Par. 1 f GDPR. Our legitimate interest is to provide you with a user-friendly and tailored experience of our website.

2.2.6 Online shop and order process

In our online shop, we allow you to place an order from our portfolio. In the online shop, you can add items from our portfolio to the shopping basket. All items and the quantity of items are stored in the shopping basket. To make ordering easier for you, we also store a not fully completed order so you can complete it at your next visit.
When ordering goods in our online shop, we collect personal data from you in order to accept and process the order and to deliver the ordered products as part of the online sales. You can place an order in our online shop as a registered user of a customer account. In this case, we process your e-mail address, password and where needed other data provided as part of the customer account. With all orders we process your first and last name, company name, address, telephone number and e-mail address as well as eventual payment details (e.g. credit card number) provided by you.

We process the data you have provided in accordance with Art. 6 Par. 1 b GDPR for the performance of contracts or to take steps prior to entering into a contract, in particular for generating quotes, for completing and processing your order and to manage the customer relationship. Failure to provide necessary data may result in not being able to entering into a contract.

2.2.7 Download of trial versions

You can download trial versions of individual products from our website.
You have to provide your salutation and last name, e-mail address, telephone number and zip code in the specific form for this. The provision of your first name, company, job title and other address details is optional. We are using the data provided only for the purpose of transferring and utilising the particular trial version. The mandatory information requested during registration must be complete.
For follow-up questions or in the case of changes for technical reasons, we will use the e-mail address provided with the registration to keep you informed.

We process the data provided by you in accordance with Art. 6 Par. 1 b GDPR to take steps prior to entering into a contract or for the performance of contracts related to the specific software.

We store the data collected during registration until you request erasure, withdraw your consent to storage or until the purpose of storage has ceased. Statutory retention periods remain unaffected.

2.2.8 Promotional usage

Newsletter

With your consent, we use the data for the delivery of our newsletter. When you register for the newsletter on our website, we collect your e-mail address as mandatory information. Your salutation and name are collected on a voluntary basis. We use the so-called double opt-in procedure for newsletter registration, i.e. your registration will only be completed after you have confirmed your registration by clicking the link included in the confirmation e-mail that is sent to you for this purpose.
You may withdraw a consent given to us at any time with future effect. However, the lawfulness of data processing before withdrawal remains unaffected. Thus you can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time by notification to the contact details given in Clause 1 or via the unsubscribe link provided in the newsletter.

The legal basis for the processing of your data for the delivery of the newsletter is, when you have given us your consent, Art. 6 Par. 1 a GDPR.
We store the data you have deposited with us for the purpose of receiving the newsletter until you unsubscribe from the newsletter and will delete them after unsubscribing from the newsletter. Data stored by us for other purposes remain unaffected.

Usage of data for e-mail marketing and right to object

Our interest is to foster our customer relationships. When we obtain your e-mail address as part of entering into a contract and the provision of our products and services and you have not objected to this, we reserve the right to send you further interesting offers for similar products from our portfolio and customer satisfaction ratings periodically by e-mail. You can object to this usage of your e-mail address at any time by notification to the contact options given in Clause I or via an unsubscribe link provided in the advertising mail, without additional costs other than the transmission costs according to base rates.

Insofar as you have provided your e-mail address as part of the purchase of goods or services and we send tailored advertising to you, we process your data for the delivery of e-mail advertising for the purposes of our legitimate interests in accordance with Art. 6 Par. 1 b GDPR in conjunction with § 7 Par. 3 UWG (German Act Against Unfair Competition). Our legitimate interest is based on our commercial interest in the execution of promotional activities and targeted advertising.

2.2.9 Data security with applications and in the application procedure

Our website offers you the opportunity to send us your application directly via an online application form. Application documents may contain special categories of personal data.

Processing of personal data

As a rule, applicant data include: First and last name, if applicable your academic degree, date and place of birth, contact details (address, e-mail, telephone and/or mobile number), application documents (letter of motivation, curriculum vitae, certificates), language and other skills. Furthermore, we process the data submitted by you when contacting us via the application form.
We will take the personal data provided by you as a basis for our decisions in the application procedure in compliance with statutory regulations. For example, we will use your professional qualifications for our decision to consider you in the closer selection procedure or a personal impression in a job interviews to decide whether we offer you the job you have applied for.

We process the personal data for our decision on establishing an employment relationship on the basis of Art. 88 Par. 1 GDPR in conjunction with § 26 Sect. 1 S. 1 BDSG (German Federal Data Protection Act).

Processing of special personal data

Special categories of personal data in accordance with Art. 9 GDPR are personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious (e.g. religious affiliation/confession) or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, or biometric data for the purpose of unique identification (e.g. photographs), data concerning health (e.g. information on the degree of severe disability) or data concerning sex life or sexual orientation. If your curriculum vitae contains special categories of personal data, we do not intentionally collect these data. We expressly request not to send us such data.
In the case you submit, voluntarily and against our express request, special categories of personal data in accordance with Art. 9 Par. 1 GDPR (e.g. your photograph or information on your religious affiliation/confession) as part of your application documents, we store these data on the basis of your consent in accordance with Art. 88 Par. 1 GDPR in conjunction with § 26 Sect. 3 S. 2 BDSG (German Federal Data Protection Act). This also applies for other personal data you communicate to us at a later stage in the application procedure. By voluntarily submitting these data, you consent to the storage of these special personal data as part of the application procedure.
Basically, we do not take these special personal data into consideration for selection decisions, unless statutory obligations demand to take these special personal data into account. For example, some job offers allow preferential treatment for persons with disabilities in accordance with applicable law. In these cases, the information is always voluntary and provided with your express consent given by voluntarily submitting these data.

We process your special personal data on the basis of Art. 9 Par. 1 GDPR based on your consent in accordance with Art. 88 Par. 1 GDPR in conjunction with § 26 Sect. 3 S. 2 BDSG (German Federal Data Protection Act).
If we send you a refusal, your data will be deleted 3 months after the rejection has been communicated at the latest. In the case of acceptance, we will incorporate your data into the personnel administration process for the purpose of establishing an employment relationship in compliance with statutory regulations. If you have given your consent, we will also store your application for future vacancies. For follow-up questions, we will use the e-mail address or telephone number provided to contact you.

2.2.10 Compliance with statutory regulations

We also process your personal data for the fulfilment of other statutory obligations related to the processing of enquiries and orders. These include, in particular, retention periods in accordance with commercial or financial law.
In these cases, we process your personal data for the compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject in accordance with Art. 6 Par. 1 c GDPR, in conjunction with commercial, trade or financial law, insofar as we are obliged to record and store your data.

2.2.11 Law enforcement

We also process your personal data in order to be able to assert our rights and to exercise our legal claims. Furthermore, we process your personal data in order to be able to defend against legal claims. Finally, we process your personal data insofar as necessary for the defence or prosecution of criminal offences.
We process your personal data for this purpose based on our legitimate interests in accordance with Art. 6 Par. 1 f GDPR, insofar as we assert or defend against legal claims, or when prohibiting or detecting criminal offences.

3. Payments and credit assessment

Encrypted payments

If you enter into a contract, which requires you to send us your payment information, we will require this data to process your payment.
Payments using common means of payment are only made via encrypted SSL or TLS connections. You can identify an encrypted connection by the fact that “http://” changes to “https://” in the address bar of your browser and the lock icon in your browser line.
In the case of encrypted communication, the payment details you submit to us cannot be read by third parties.

Payment processing

We offer payment via PayPal, credit card, invoice and prepayment.

PayPal

In the case of payment via PayPal, the provider of this payment service is PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg (in the following “PayPal”).
If you select payment via PayPal, the payment data you have entered is transmitted to PayPal.
The transmission of your data to PayPal is carried out on the basis of Art. 6 Par. 1 a GDPR (consent) and Art. 6 Par. 1 b GDPR (processing for the performance of a contract). You may withdraw your consent to data processing at any time. A withdrawal does not affect the effectiveness of data processing operations in the past.

Credit card (MasterCard, Visa, Maestro)

In the case of payment via credit card (MasterCard, Visa, Maestro) using the interface of TeleCash, the provider of this payment service is First Cash Solution GmbH, Okenstr. 7, 77652 Offenburg (in the following “First Cash Solution”).
If you select payment via credit card, the payment data you have entered is transmitted to First Cash Solution.
The transmission of your data to First Cash Solution is carried out on the basis of Art. 6 Par. 1 a GDPR (consent) and Art. 6 Par. 1 b GDPR (processing for the performance of a contract). You may withdraw your consent to data processing at any time. A withdrawal does not affect the effectiveness of data processing operations in the past.

Credit assessment

If we make advance payments, we reserve the right, for the purpose of our legitimate interests, to obtain a credit report based on mathematical and statistical procedures from the following companies, where appropriate:

Creditreform AG
Hellersbergstrasse 12, 41460 Neuss

Bisnode Deutschland GmbH
Robert-Bosch-Strasse 11, 64293 Darmstadt

We transmit the data necessary for credit assessment to the companies mentioned above and use the information we receive on the statistical probability of payment default. Where we hold personal data about you as a customer, these data may be included with the data transmitted to the assessment agencies. The credit report can include probability values (score values), which are calculated on the basis of scientifically proven mathematical and statistical procedures. With personal data, conclusions are thereby drawn using a variety of characteristics such as income, address data, occupation, marital status and previous payment history, on the customer’s future risk of payment default. The result is expressed in the form of a payment value (so-called score). The information obtained as part of the credit report forms the basis of our decision on the establishment, execution or termination of the contractual relationship. However, the choice of one of the offered payment methods does not depend on such information.
We process your personal data for credit assessment on the basis of the following legal bases:

• for the performance of a contract or to take steps prior to entering into a contract in accordance with Art. 6 Par. 1 b GDPR;

• for the purpose of our legitimate interests in accordance with Art. 6 Par. 1 f GDPR, insofar as we assert or defend against legal claims, or when prohibiting or detecting criminal offences.

4. Categories of recipients

First, our employees get knowledge of your personal data. For some of our business processes, in particular IT services, for processing of contracts, management of customer relationship and services to customer and interested persons, we also use selected and contracted service providers. Some of our service providers obtain your personal data as processors strictly bound to our directives when handling your personal data. In some cases the recipients operate independently with the data we transmit to them.

In the following we list further categories of recipients of your personal data: payment service providers, logistics service providers, software manufacturers for licensing of their software, credit agencies, collection service providers, advertising and market research providers, service providers for the dispatch of newsletters and e-mail advertising.

5. Transfer to third countries

In the context of our usage of Google tools, we submit your truncated IP address to the USA. The data transfer is based on the Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/1250 of the EU Commission dated 12 July 2016 in accordance with Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the adequacy of the protection provided by the EU-US Privacy Shield.

Apart from that we do not transfer your personal data to countries outside the EU or the EEA or to international organisations.

6. Retention period

Where no separate information on erasure is stated in this privacy policy, we delete your personal data if no longer required for the business relationship, in particular for the performance of a contract or to take steps prior to entering into a contract and statutory retention periods or legal bases have ceased. The retention periods specified in the HGB (German Commercial Code) and in the AO (German Fiscal Code) are between two and ten years. Furthermore, limitation periods affect the retention period. Limitation periods usually are between 12 and 36 months but can be up to 30 years.

7. Your rights as a data subject

Rights to communication, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability

In accordance with Art. 15 GDPR you have the right to obtain communication, at any time, on whether and which personal data concerning you are stored at us and to whom these data may be transmitted. Furthermore, in accordance with statutory regulations, you have the rights to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR), erasure (Art. 17 GDPR), restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR) and data portability (Art. 20 GDPR).

Right to object

Furthermore, in accordance with Art. 21 Par. 1 GDPR, you can object to processing of personal data, carried out by us on the basis of Art. 6 Par. 1 f GDPR (on the basis of a balance of interests), at any time for reasons of your particular situation. In particular, you can object to using your data for the purpose of direct marketing at any time with future effect

Right to withdrawal

You can withdraw a consent to us at any time and without reason. However, the lawfulness of data processing before withdrawal remains unaffected.

Assertion of rights

You can assert the rights mentioned above in writing against our company to the contact details listed in Sect. 1.
Please note that we reserve the right to request evidence of your identity as the real data subject asserting the rights stated here, where we are in doubt you are asserting these rights as the real data subject.

Right to lodge a complaint with the data protection supervisory authority

You have the right, in accordance with Art. 77 GDPR, to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of your habitual residence, place of work or of the alleged infringement, if you consider the processing of personal data concerning you violates the principles of the GDPR. The right to lodge a complaint remains without prejudice to any other administrative or legal remedy.

For the purposes of the UK, the supervisory authority is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the contact details of which are available https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

8. Scope of duties to provide data

Basically, you are not obliged to provide your personal data. However, if you do not, we will not be able to offer you our website, answer your enquiries and enter into a contract with you. Mandatory personal data are all marked “*” or “!”, all other personal data are optional.

9. Automated decision making / profiling

We do not use automated decision making or profiling (an automated analysis of your personal circumstances).

10. Links

Some areas of our website contain links to websites of third party providers. These websites are subject to their own data protection principles. We are not responsible for their operation, including handling of data. When submitting information to or via such third party provider websites, you should check the privacy policies of these sites prior to submitting information that can be assigned to yourself.

Amendment of the privacy policy

We reserve the right to modify this privacy policy to adapt it to changing statutory regulations or to implement modified services in this privacy policy, e.g. when introducing new services. The new privacy policy will then be effective for your next visit. If not specified otherwise, such modifications take immediate effect. Therefore, please check this privacy policy on a regular basis to view the latest version.

Revision: August 2018